Imagine a toy for your young child that is one of, if not the, greatest toy in the known world. One that you can actually afford and that has endless possibilities. In fact, it is free, no strings attached.

It’s one that is impressively abundant, with no patents to drive the price up. Supply and demand have no influence on this toy. Amazingly it is not available in stores. Amazon doesn’t carry it. It is available world wide, without a dealer network of any kind.

Young children all over the world love this toy. It has endless functions. Requiring no electricity or springs to turn to wind it up makes it an ideal toy. For parents it’s important to note that it also is free of internal noise making devices that can stretch parental patience. There is no one shape or length to it, but it isn’t very bendable or squishable. It will break under enough stress.

If it does break children simply turn it into something else, or get another one. The colors of this toy are all over the palette. Brown, gray, tan, red, purple, white and more. Not only that but it is paintable with no loss of function.

It can be used in water, sand, mud, dirt, snow, air, inside or outside, any time of day or night. There is no way to connect it to a phone, computer, or anything electronic, including the internet. It can be played with as though it is an electronic or even nuclear gizmo however.

Children have been known to draw and paint with it. When children gather enough of them they can build with them. Leaving them outside overnight is OK. They have been musical instruments, swords, spears, telephones, eating utensils, rifles, walkie talkies, art instruments, wands, magic wands, light sabers, building materials, snakes, birds, airplanes, boats, magical healing tools, electric stun machines, currencies of different types, fishing poles, musical batons, telescopes, binoculars, space ships and on and on. There is no known limit to what these can be turned into. As far as a child’s imagination can go, this toy goes with it. It is an essential part of childhood. Parents can often be heard telling children not to run with it.

It is quite likely that no matter how old you are right now, you had more than one. It would have been something that you played with throughout grade school, and probably beyond. It is quite probable that it is the oldest toy on earth.

In 2008 it was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. It is that important and that amazing. If you are having a hard time imagining what such a thing could be, you may have, sadly, shut the door entirely on your childhood, something that I resolutely refuse to do.

The toy? It’s the stick. Couple that with a child’s imagination and the world expands in so many wonderful ways. All the adults have to do is get out the way, watch, and learn.